Belfast and Johannesburg: peas in a racist pod?

I long to live in a society where there is no racism but, living between Belfast and Johannesburg, this is impossible.

About a year ago, xenophobia in South Africa hit the international newspapers. Foreigners, mainly from Africa, were driven from their homes, with over 50 people being killed. Over 100 people have been prosecuted for the attacks. But recently information surfaced that local businesspeople in some townships have been meeting secretly to ‘look at’ how to rid the community of businesses owned by immigrants. Sporadic attacks continue.

Belfast recently featured in international papers with a similar storyline. Some 100 Romanians were forced from their homes by mobs of young people claiming the immigrants were taking their jobs and houses and stealing from the local community. The attacks seemed to take on a neo-Nazi feel, with swastikas and Nazi salutes being prominent. Most of the Romanians have now left Northern Ireland.

However, attacks against foreigners in Northern Ireland are not new. They have been a consistent feature of the society over the last decade.

In 2004, for example, Bill Rolston, at the University of Ulster, highlighted attacks against Pakistanis, Chinese and Zimbabwean immigrants, besides others. He also reported on incidents where local minorities were greeted at night by masked men robbing their houses and telling them: “You won’t be needing these; you’ll be leaving soon.”

Police statistics show that, in 1996, there were 41 racist incidents recorded; in 2006 and 2007, there were 1 047. Research by Neil Jarman, of the Institute of Conflict Research, has found that such incidents, although perceived as taking place largely in working-class Protestant areas in Belfast and linked to far right groups, have been documented in Catholic areas and recorded in all major cities, towns and villages in Northern Ireland. Perpetrators of such incidents also vary and are not restricted to rightwingers and paramilitary groups, as some believe.

Of course, the increase in incidents of racism can reflect the growing number of immigrants, improved reporting rates and the increased visibility of the issue. But the numeric increase is undeniable and the figures are also under-representative because many incidents go unreported. Weighing up the research on the issue, the conclusion is clear: racism is a serious problem in Northern Ireland.

The public response has been interesting. As in South Africa, the majority have condemned the xenophobic violence, and a range of antiracism protests have been organised. These actions are commendable. However, there also seems to be social distancing from the problem. Routinely, commentators and the public make reference to “groups of thugs” being responsible and are at pains to point out that the majority are welcoming and want foreigners in the cities.

I agree that the incidents are the work of relatively small groups, but there also seems to be a lack of acknowledgement that prejudice is deeply ingrained across the society, as it is in South Africa. People in Northern Ireland, like those in South Africa, tend to take notice only when problems explode. In the times in between, most of us, including politicians, ignore low-level violence and racism. This reinforces the idea that there is an ‘acceptable’ level of violence and that some racism is tolerable. This creates the foundation for extremism.

I am yet to meet an African living in Belfast, myself included, who has not, at some point, been abused for not being from the society. Such incidents are generally not life threatening and most people are indeed friendly, but the hatred must be coming from somewhere and cannot be overlooked or seen as concerning specific individuals only.

In this context, surely, the majority of the population’s general avoidance of issues until they reach mammoth proportions, the ongoing use of segregated schools and housing, which inculcates a propensity for division, and the fact that most political parties continue to appeal to voters using narrow, single-identity politics and, in some cases, anti-immigration rhetoric, cannot be helping the situation.

This article by Brandon Hamber was published on Polity and in the Engineering News on 10 July 2009 as part of the column "Look South". Copyright Brandon Hamber.

Does the past have its price?

Recently, I visited the Imperial War Museum North, in Manchester, designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. The museum, which focuses on how war shapes lives, is impressive in design. The various parts of the building are said to resemble the shards of a shattered world. But, despite all the symbolism, it was a minor incident at the museum that stuck in my mind. While perusing the various World War II artefacts, I noticed a group of schoolchildren who seemed mesmerised by various Nazi-related items. They seemed drawn to them, snapping photos of swastikas and a large gold Nazi eagle. Of all the objects that could draw their interest, from fighter jets to tanks, it was these symbols that captivated them.

Of course, this need not be negative. There is a growing focus on the horrors of genocide and research continues to unearth the causes of Nazi tyranny. More school curricula now focus on learning about the Holocaust. This helps us understand the past and not repeat it.

But there is also a downside. Why would such symbols intrigue children? Is it curiosity or research for a school project? Or is it the allure of the power and abuse linked with such symbols? The line between fascination with the macabre and genuinely learning from a repulsive past seems a thin one, not only for children but for adults, too. This is evident in the continuing debate about collecting Nazi memorabilia. The American writer Susan Sontag writes that collecting Nazi memorabilia gives the collectors a type of thrill similar to doing something forbidden or breaking social taboos. Consequently, the Nazis remain big business. An autograph of Hitler can fetch up to £2 000. Paper with his initials and Nazi insignia on the letterhead can fetch up to £50 a sheet. Recently, Hitler’s Nazi party membership badge, engraved at the back with the number one, was stolen from the archives of the Russian Federal Security Bureau (formerly the KGB). If it is the genuine article, it could be worth up to £2-million.

A few years ago, following public pressure, eBay had to put restrictions on what could be bought and sold on online auctions. It claims that items bearing symbols of the Nazis, including authentic German World War II memorabilia, are no longer allowed on the site. However, a quick visit to the US site revealed a plethora of items for sale, including an allegedly genuine Nazi battle flag for $750. So should eBay and others be prevented from selling such material? Many collectors claim that collecting such items is purely historic. But, if collecting was a historic exercise, then why the hefty price tags and why are such items not handed over to museums for proper archiving, explanation and display? It is deplorable that people should continue to make money out of such memorabilia. It also makes me think that it is time we South Africans started to think about our past. A quick scan of eBay suggests there are only a few items from the apartheid past available at the moment, including a few anti-apartheid records, T-shirts and badges, and old South African flags. But it may be a growth industry.

And what if more inflammatory items started to find their way to auction? Such items could include infamous instruments of torture or soldiers’ photos of their dead enemy, as was allegedly the case recently in Iraq. I do not want to sound like a prophet of doom but, surely, given the lessons from the Holocaust, this should not be possible. Are South Africans prepared to make their past available to the highest bidder? Should trading in some items be regulated or should we just let the market take control.

This article by Brandon Hamber was published on Polity and in the Engineering News on 9 December 2005 as part of the column "Look South". Copyright Brandon Hamber.

Mugabe compared to Adolf Hitler

Article in the Business Day today starts "The South African Communist Party (SACP) has backed the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) stand against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's human rights violations. "It would be wrong for the South African government to act like a trade union, but it is equally wrong to expect Cosatu to act like government," SACP secretary-general Blade Nzimande said. The SACP's stance may widen the gap between the African National Congress (ANC) and its tripartite alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu, on how to deal with Zimbabwe. It signals an attempt by the alliance partners to assert each group's right to comment on and approach sensitive issues according to the directive of their constituencies, instead of towing the line of the ruling party. Zimbabwe last month deported 13 unionists aligned to Cosatu who were on a fact-finding mission after a call for help by their counterparts and civil society structures in that country. This prompted the union to launch a blistering attack on Mugabe, comparing his tactics to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in wartime Germany.

Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Today at 10:30am the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) will be seated and its new commissioners sworn in during a public ceremony in Greensboro, North Carolina. The TRC was established to examine the events of November 3, 1979, when members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party opened fire on a racially mixed gathering of political activists and labor organizers, killing five and wounding 10 others. Modeled in part on truth-seeking efforts in South Africa, Peru, and other countries, the Greensboro Commission hopes to become a model that other American communities can use to examine their own histories of human rights abuse. On May 27, 2004, an independent panel named the seven individuals chosen to serve as commissioners. Once seated, the commissioners will begin reviewing documents and hearing testimony to determine the causes and consequences of the November 3 events, produce a report, and suggest possible paths toward reconciliation and healing. The website is here.